Spontaneous Combustion
by forensicsfan
Summary: COMPLETE - SN - A bad night for both of them turns into something a little interesting.
1. Bad Night

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, I don't profit from them, but I certainly would enjoy sipping a cup of coffee with George.  
  
This is a rewrite of a story that I had started but ended up pulling because I didn't like where it was heading.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
In a word, Sara Sidle was pissed. On her one night off in three weeks, Grissom had called her in and not having planned to do anything besides relax and catch up on back issues of her forensic journals, she had agreed to come in. What she hadn't counted on was Grissom announcing to her that he was leaving the scene almost as soon as she had arrived.  
  
Another case was beckoning him and his vast knowledge of insects and so with a boyish smile, he'd left leaving her to process the scene of a decomp on her own. She processed the scene meticulously, trying to work out the anger that just continued to build. She knew that by the time she got back to the lab, she was going to smell to high heavens and that the new blouse that she had on would most likely never smell quite the same again.  
  
She berated herself for not finding an interest outside of law enforcement. Perhaps if she had, she would have been able to say no to Grissom's request that she come in. Truth be told, she needed that night off and now she was pissed not only at Grissom for intruding on it, but at herself for even answering the phone.  
  
By the time she got back to the lab, all she wanted to do was to take a shower and get the smell of decomposing flesh off of her body. She was thankful that Grissom had told her what kind of scene it was and that she'd had the foresight to pick up some lemons on her way to there, since she would have been breaking protocol to take a detour before checking the evidence in.  
  
When she was finally able to get to the locker room to grab a change of clothes she kept in her locker, she noticed Nick Stokes standing in front of his locker looking about as bad as she smelled. He smelled about as bad too. "Great, I've had the night from hell and now I have to smell you too."  
  
Nick furrowed his brow as he turned around to find out why he was suddenly the target of Sara's verbal assault. He wrinkled his nose at her. "Shit, Sara, you smell like death."  
  
She narrowed her gaze and glared. "Well at least I don't look like I've been rolling in trash. Is this something new you're trying out on your dates?"  
  
Nick was taken aback at her comments. He could tell she was pissed off and quite frankly the fact that she was taking it out on him, pissed him off. He hadn't exactly had a fun night himself. First he'd lost a coin toss to pull a body out of a pool and then he'd been called out to the scene of a shooting in an alley behind a fast food restaurant. One of the witnesses was convinced that the weapon had been tossed in the dumpster, so he'd spent the better part of two hours sifting through fries, ketchup, and remnants of Happy Meals. In a word, he was annoyed.  
  
He narrowed his own gaze at her and rested his hands on his hips. "At least I have dates."  
  
Sara snorted as she opened her locker. "Oh, yeah, and I bet you have to use a PDA just to keep them straight."  
  
"And you'd probably need one to keep track of when the last time you had a date." Nick barbed back.  
  
"You can be such an ass, you know that." Sara glared at him as she struggled with the bag in her locker.  
  
Nick's eyebrows shot up in disgust. "Me?"  
  
She pulled out a duffel bag with a change of clothes and slammed the door. "Move, I need to get to the shower."  
  
Nick had had enough and shook his head. "No. I was here first, and I'm going in there."  
  
Sara scoffed. "The hell you are. Move your ass, Nick."  
  
Nick narrowed his gaze and lowered his voice as he gritted his teeth. "Look, Sara, I don't know who shoved a stick up your ass, but you can cut the bitch routine. I'm taking a shower, and when I'm done, then you can have it."  
  
Sara stopped in her tracks as Nick angrily slammed his locker door and turned on his heels and headed into the shower room off of the locker bay. It took her a moment to fully process what he had just said to her and then her anger flared up once again as she yelled after him. "Asshole!"  
  
Not really thinking about what she was doing, she walked over to the door of the shower room and yanked it open, glaring at Nick. "You asshole!"  
  
Nick glanced up at her not realizing until that moment that he hadn't locked the door. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He stood there barefoot with his shirt unbuttoned and his pants unzipped.  
  
"Get out of here, I'm taking a shower." Sara was being unreasonable and she knew it.  
  
Nick's eyebrows shot up and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You sure as hell are not. I'm not leaving until I take a shower."  
  
"Don't think you can call me a bitch and get away with it." Sara glared at him and then turned around.  
  
Nick, thinking that she was giving up, shrugged his shirt off and then glanced up and noticed that she had locked the door. He eyed her warily. "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
She stepped toward him, still seething. "I told you, I'm taking a shower." As if to emphasize her point, she pulled her blouse off over her head and tossed it to the floor.  
  
Nick's eyebrows shot up and he stood there staring at her in disbelief in the small space. "Get the hell out of here, Sara."  
  
Still glaring at him, she kicked her shoes off and leaned down to remove her socks. "What's the problem, Nick? I'm sure you've seen naked women before, this should be nothing new to you."  
  
"Sara." There was an edge of warning in Nick's voice. "You do not want to do this." He decided to up the ante and shoved his jeans down, placing them with the rest of his clothes and leaving him standing there in his boxers.  
  
"Think you can act like an asshole and make me wait for the shower after I had to deal with Grissom's shit and work a decomp? Forget it." She continued to fume as she shimmied out of her jeans.  
  
"Sara." Nick had a waver in his voice.  
  
Sara unfastened her bra and was about to shrug it off, ready to volley another venomous comment until she happened to glance at Nick. That was when she realized what she was doing.  
  
Nick's jaw was agape and he just stared at her. He had fantasized about her since he'd met her, and at that moment his body was making that abundantly clear through his boxers.  
  
Sara swallowed hard and as she met his gaze, her anger dissolved into something else. In one move, she let her bra drop to the floor and stepped towards him, grabbing the waistband of his boxers and pulling him towards her as her mouth connected with his in a hot open mouth kiss.  
  
Nick didn't move for a fraction of a second and then he took control as he felt the soft flesh of her breasts pressing against his chest. He pushed her against the cool tile of the wall and pressed his body against hers.  
  
Sara seemed to become immobile for a moment as she felt his flesh connect with hers. The only conscious thought she had was that her tongue seemed to be in a duel with his. That is until she felt his hands sliding her panties down. She moaned into his mouth and in an animalistic move, she hooked her thumbs on the waistband of his boxers and shoved them downward.  
  
Nick stepped out of them and pulled her firmly against him.  
  
With all of the barriers between them removed, Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him harder as she let the length of her body slide against his.  
  
Nick slid his hands down to her ass, pulling her with him into the shower and turning on the spray. He pushed her up against the wall and they continued to explore each others bodies until Nick finally lifted Sara up against the wall and she wrapped her legs around his waist.  
  
As he slid into her, Sara let out a moan biting his shoulder as he began to thrust into her hard and fast, hoping that the sound of water would muffle the sound and no one in the locker room could hear what was going on inside the shower.  
  
Nick tried to muffle his guttural cry into the crook of her neck, holding her against the wall until the waves of pleasure began to ebb. He slowly lowered her back to her feet, their bodies slick in the wet spray.  
  
As Nick tried to catch his breath, Sara stepped out of the shower for a moment and returned with the lemons.  
  
With a single eyebrow raised, Sara handed him one of the lemons and he took it from her wordlessly and smiled with no explanation needed. 


	2. Regret or Denial?

If regret could have been measured tangibly, Sara was sure that it would have weighed a ton had she and Nick thrown their lot in together after what had happened between them in the shower. It was bad enough that she'd had a bad night, but then she had to make an error in judgement in her carefully controlled world by purposely walking in on him in the shower and the icing on the cake was handing him a lemon to scrub her down with afterward. That had led to a second encounter.  
  
She spent the rest of shift as far away from him as possible as she tried to sort her thoughts. He had suggested that they talk about it. As if 'it' was an adequate name for what had transpired in the shower. Hell the two of them had been flirting shamelessly for three and a half years, her obsession with Grissom aside, and in one moment all of the sexual tension that had been building between them had combusted in the shower.  
  
She was sure that he would regret it, or just add her to the many women that he had bedded over his lifetime. She was sure that to Nick Stokes, she was just another fuck in a long line. But, oh, how good it had felt. She was sure she had never had a partner who knew what he was doing as much as Nick did. But now he wanted to talk and she was dreading it. Not that it didn't need to be done, but why couldn't they just chalk it up to a one time, ok a two time encounter and leave it alone? She didn't want it to affect their friendship, but in reality, it was a little late for that.  
  
They'd agreed to go to his townhouse after shift, he said he'd make breakfast and they'd talk. For some reason, the clock seemed to move slower and Sara had worked herself up with worry by the time shift was over. She tried to act as casually as possible as she followed Nick out to the parking lot. No reason to arouse suspicion in any of their coworkers. Just two friends having breakfast, nothing they hadn't done before. She followed him in her Denali and pulled in alongside his into his driveway.  
  
He flashed her a grin, she assumed it was to try and put her at ease, but Sara had a sinking feeling that she wasn't going to enjoy the conversation. She hardly ate anything, and tried to avoid making eye contact with Nick as they ate. She knew he was studying her and had picked up on her nervousness. When she'd eaten a sufficient amount to pass for a meal, she pushed her plate back and let out a sigh. She watched as Nick finished his meal and when he was done, she reached for his plate. "The least I can do is wash the dishes since you cooked."  
  
Before Nick could say anything in protest, Sara was on her feet, their plates in hand heading towards the kitchen sink. He trailed behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders as he came up behind her.  
  
Sara nearly flew out of her skin.  
  
"Tense?" Nick observed.  
  
Sara forced a smile as she glanced over her shoulder. "Sorry."  
  
Nick shook his head. "No need to be sorry." He studied her for a moment. "Sara, why don't you let me massage your shoulders, you need to relax; I'm not going to bite you."  
  
At that comment, she couldn't help but close her eyes and smirk as she let out a chuckled. "No, I guess you're not. I'm the one who bites."  
  
He tried to swallow a grin as he unconsciously touched the spot on his shoulder that she had bitten in the shower. "Yeah, you do."  
  
"Are we going to talk about what happened earlier?" Sara started trying to sound confident.  
  
"I thought that's why we were here." He could tell she was apprehensive as he tried to get her muscles to relax underneath his fingers.  
  
Sara cleared her throat. "I shouldn't have walked in on you like that. I guess I was taking out my frustration on you. I'm sorry."  
  
Nick wanted to clarify. "Sorry that you were taking it out on me or sorry you walk in on me? Because I'm not really that sorry you walked in on me."  
  
Sara's words caught in her throat.  
  
Nick's fingers began to kneed between her shoulder blades. "That was hot, Sara."  
  
"You don't think it was a mistake?" Sara ventured.  
  
"Do you?" His tone implied that he did not see what happened between them as a mistake.  
  
"Don't you?" She was thrown for a loop. She had fully expected that he would give her the friends speech.  
  
"Hell no. I've wanted to fuck you like that since the day I met you." There was a hint of amusement in his voice.  
  
Sara's voice cracked. "You have?"  
  
"Don't you know how sexy you are?" Nick was incredulous. "Hell, Sara, we've been flirting for three and a half years, did it ever occur to you that I might be attracted to you?"  
  
"I didn't think I was your type." Sara's explanation sounded lame even to her own ears.  
  
Nick chuckled. "I'm the one that should be saying that about you. I'm not exactly Grissom."  
  
Sara snorted. "Well he's a lost cause, let me tell you. The man wouldn't notice me unless I was dancing naked on the break room table with spiders hanging off my head and even then he'd probably only notice the spiders."  
  
Nick laughed in spite of himself. "I wouldn't mind seeing you dance naked on the break room table."  
  
"It's never going to happen, so don't get your hopes up." Sara quipped.  
  
Nick continued massaging her shoulders. "Relax, Sara."  
  
"Ouch." Sara winced as Nick found a knot in one of her shoulders.  
  
"Sorry." Nick's voice was a bit husky as he stilled his hands for a moment and leaned down and kissed her neck.  
  
Sara sucked her breath in sharply.  
  
Nick murmured against her neck as he continued to plant kisses against it. "Relax."  
  
"Nick." There was a distinct waver in her voice as she gripped the edge of the counter.  
  
"Damn, Sara, you're so sexy." Nick's hands rested on her waist as he pressed himself against her. He continued kissing her neck, his lips curling into a smile as Sara tilted her head back onto his shoulder.  
  
"Nick." There was a pleading quality to Sara's voice, but it certainly wasn't pleading for him to stop.  
  
Nick murmured. "I want you so bad. All I can think about is how much I wanna fuck you right now."  
  
Sara stiffened. "Nick." Her voice was abrupt.  
  
Nick wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. "What's wrong?"  
  
Sara was trying to keep her head clear until she could clarify a few things. His sexy voice wasn't helping one bit. "Am I? Uh, is this?"  
  
Nick let out a soft deep breath. "Is this what, Sara?" His voice wasn't impatient.  
  
Sara spit it out as quickly as possible. "Am I just another fuck to you?"  
  
Nick kissed her neck. "No."  
  
"Oh." Sara felt her heart racing.  
  
"Did you think you were?" Nick asked softly, stepping back a little and turning her in his embrace.  
  
She studied his face for a moment before she answered. "I wasn't sure what to think."  
  
"Do you want to be with me?" His eyebrows were both raised expectantly as he looked at her.  
  
Sara couldn't keep her eyes off of his lips. "I think I do."  
  
A smile spread across his face. "Good. Because I think I really want to kiss you senseless right now."  
  
As Nick leaned toward her, Sara stopped him a fraction of an inch from her lips. "I thought you said you wanted to fuck me."  
  
He chuckled softly. "I do, but I thought I'd kiss you first." 


	3. Reach Out and Touch Someone

"Has anyone ever told you that you're quite vigorous?" Sara had a smirk on her face as she and Nick lay on his bedroom floor tangled in his sheets.  
  
Nick chuckled. "Is that some commentary on the fact that we fell off the bed?"  
  
"Well, I can't say that's ever happened to me before." Sara quipped rolling onto her side and resting on her elbow as she looked at him. "I think I have a bruise on my ass."  
  
Nick rolled toward her and raised an eyebrow. "A bruise, huh?" He lifted the sheet and glanced underneath it, a smile forming on his lips. "I don't see any bruises, Sara."  
  
She swatted at him and rolled her eyes. "That's not my ass and you know it."  
  
He grinned. "Can I help it if I think you're sexy?"  
  
Sara's laugh was husky. "Well, I think you're sexy too." She leaned in and kissed him allowing him to push her onto her back and tangle his fingers in her hair as the kiss deepened.  
  
As they broke the kiss, Nick looked down at her and studied her for a moment. "Do you want to stay?"  
  
Sara smirked. "I don't think we'll get much sleep if I stay, Nick."  
  
"We can sleep." Nick tried to convince himself as much as her.  
  
Sara rolled her eyes. "Liar."  
  
Nick chuckled. "Who really needs to sleep anyway. It's kind of overrated."  
  
She smiled. "I should go. We both need sleep if we're going to be awake enough to work."  
  
Nick leaned down, his lips a fraction of an inch from hers. "We could call in sick."  
  
Sara laughed. "Nick, I've never called in sick before and besides I don't think everyone would appreciate it if we both called in sick."  
  
Nick leaned in and kissed her, taking his time as his tongue explored her mouth. When he pulled away he searched her eyes. "Still want to leave?"  
  
Sara was breathing a little heavily. "Not really, but we can't exactly call in because we're having a fuckathon. I really need to go."  
  
Nick let out a sigh. "Ok." A smile began to play at his lips as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "But can I get a rain check on that fuckathon?"  
  
Sara laughed as she pushed him away, pulling a sheet around her as she pulled herself off of the floor.  
  
Nick lay on the floor in all of his male glory watching her. "Can I take that as a 'yes'?"  
  
She glanced at him and smirked again. "I need to see if I can find my clothes."  
  
Nick looked amused as he stood up to follow her, stopping by his dresser to put a pair of boxers on.  
  
Sara was down on her hands and knees looking under the coffee table for her socks. She glanced up at him with her brows knit together. "Do you remember where you threw my bra?"  
  
Nick gestured towards the kitchen and tried to restrain his smile. "I think that's it on the top of the refrigerator."  
  
Sara pulled herself up off of the floor with the sheet still wrapped around her body. She raised a single eyebrow at Nick. "Do you want to help me here?"  
  
Nick pursed his lips together in a futile effort to keep from smiling. "Not really."  
  
She tilted her head, a hint of annoyance flickering across her face. "Nick."  
  
He chuckled, a sheepish expression on his face as he wrapped his arms around her. "What?"  
  
"I can't leave if I don't get dressed." Sara was trying to remember where her jeans had ended up and spied them on the back of the couch.  
  
Nick leaned in and kissed her neck. "That's the general idea."  
  
"Mmnn, Nick." Sara tried to protest, but she was enjoying the sensation of Nick's lips against her neck too much. "I really need to go."  
  
He slid his hands down and cupped her butt through the sheet as he continued to kiss her along her shoulder. "No you don't."  
  
"But we need to sleep." Sara's mind was beginning to haze over from the distraction of Nick's hands on her ass.  
  
"We can sleep." Nick murmured as he began pulling her with him back towards his bedroom.  
  
"We won't sleep." The protest in Sara's voice ebbed as Nick began to nibble on her ear.  
  
"Stay." Nick's voice was husky as he continued to kiss her neck.  
  
All of Sara's reason disappeared as her senses took over. "We could still get a couple hours of sleep."  
  
Nick chuckled against her neck. "There's always coffee."  
  
They took a few more steps back towards the bedroom. "Coffee's good." Sara's lips met Nick's and they began to purposefully stagger back to the bedroom.  
  
As they tumbled onto the bed, Sara murmured against Nick's lips. "No falling off the bed this time."  
  
Nick laughed against her mouth. "Yes, ma'am."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The sound of a phone ringing broke through Sara's sleepy haze. She reached for the sound of it and clumsily brought the phone to her ear. It wasn't until she heard the surprise in the voice at the other end of the line and an arm tightening around her waist that she realized she wasn't at home.  
  
"Sara?" Warrick had thought for sure that he'd called Nick's number.  
  
"Uh, hey, Warrick." Sara was formulating an explanation for answering Nick's phone she could give him that would sound plausible.  
  
"I thought I called Nick." Warrick knew he'd called Nick, the display on his phone indicated that he had.  
  
Sara tried to sound calm and relaxed. "You did."  
  
Warrick wasn't exactly sure what to make of this. "What are you doing there?"  
  
Sara knew that at the moment, the truth was not an option. "We were watching TV and I fell asleep." She figured that what Warrick didn't know wouldn't hurt her and Nick.  
  
"Mmm." Warrick considered that for a half a second. It could be true.  
  
Nick was groggy. He thought he'd heard the phone, but then it had stopped ringing. Sara was talking to someone though. He mumble sleepily. "Is someone on the phone?"  
  
Sara glanced over at him and whispered. "Warrick's on the phone." She held the phone out to him.  
  
"Hey, man, what's up?" Nick glanced at Sara and smiled.  
  
"What's Sara doing there?" Warrick sounded suspicious.  
  
Nick didn't think before he opened his mouth. "We were watching TV and fell asleep."  
  
He hadn't hesitated when he'd answered, so for the moment, Warrick was buying his story. "Well, you'd both better get your asses in here. Shift started a half hour ago and Grissom's not a happy man."  
  
"Shit." Nick gritted his teeth. Sara was not going to be happy about being late to work. "We'll be there shortly." He hung up the phone and glanced over at Sara. "We're late."  
  
Sara's eyebrows shot up. "What time is it?"  
  
Nick furrowed his brow, still trying to wake up. "Apparently about seven thirty."  
  
"Shit." Sara hissed, pulling the sheet with her as she got out of bed. "Didn't you set your alarm clock?"  
  
Nick propped himself up on his elbow and yawned as he looked at her with a sheepish expression. "I was a little distracted."  
  
Sara smirked at him before she went in search of her clothes. 


	4. Conspiracy Theory

"So what was Nick's excuse?" Catherine asked as she and Warrick made their way out to her Denali.  
  
"Says he overslept." Warrick's tone implied that there was more to the story.  
  
Catherine glanced at him quizzically. "Overslept."  
  
Warrick nodded as they climbed into the vehicle.  
  
"Why do I get the impression that you don't believe him?" Catherine looked amused.  
  
"Oh, I believe he overslept, I'm just not sure I'm buying the rest of his story." Warrick chuckled.  
  
Catherine started the engine and let Warrick continue.  
  
A wry smile crossed Warrick's lips. "Someone else answered his phone."  
  
Catherine smiled. "I didn't know Nicky had a new girlfriend."  
  
Warrick chuckled. "If only it was that simple."  
  
Catherine looked slightly confused. "What?"  
  
"Guess who answered his phone?" Warrick looked at her as if the answer was obvious.  
  
Catherine rolled her eyes as she pulled the Denali into traffic. "Obviously I should know this person, so why don't you just tell me instead of playing twenty questions?"  
  
Warrick raised a single eyebrow and smirked. "Look, who else was missing from the briefing?"  
  
Catherine looked at Warrick in disbelief. "Not Sara?"  
  
Warrick nodded. "Yeah, Sara."  
  
"You think they're sleeping together?" Catherine had a glint in her eye.  
  
Warrick chuckled. "I don't know, but the story they both fed me about falling asleep watching TV just doesn't sound quite right."  
  
"TV." Catherine deadpanned.  
  
"Uh, huh." Warrick agreed. "I mean it's plausible, but my gut tells me it's a smoke screen."  
  
Catherine looked at him doubtfully. "They are friends, Rick."  
  
"Who have been flirting with each other since they met." Warrick observed.  
  
Catherine's laugh was deep and throaty. "It doesn't mean that they're sleeping together."  
  
Warrick tried to restrain a smile. "Did you know that I overheard them yelling at each other in the locker room about halfway through shift last night?"  
  
Catherine furrowed her brow. "No. What were they arguing about?"  
  
Warrick shook his head. "I don't know, but I heard some pretty choice words and I didn't want to get in the middle of it so I kept on walking."  
  
"Well if she went over to Nick's they obviously resolved the issue." Catherine reasoned.  
  
Warrick raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. You know how Sara can be. She stews for days before she gets over something."  
  
Catherine nodded. "Well Nick's always been able to get through to her when no one else could."  
  
"True." Warrick agreed. He was quiet for a moment and then glanced over at Catherine. "There was just something in her voice though, Cat."  
  
Catherine regarded him curiously. "What do you mean?"  
  
"She sounded happy." Warrick concluded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It had been a long shift. After arriving at work late, both Nick and Sara threw themselves into the tasks Grissom had assigned them to. It was a good thing that they didn't see much of each other almost the entire shift because Nick wasn't sure he could keep the grin off of his face. As it was, every time he thought of Sara he smiled.  
  
Nick stood in the locker room changing his shirt when Warrick walked in. He glanced up fired a greeting. "Hey, man."  
  
Warrick winced as he noticed the mark on Nick's shoulder. "What did you do to your shoulder?"  
  
Nick's expression was blank and then he realized that Warrick was talking about where Sara had bitten him. He should have known better than to think it didn't leave a mark. "I must have hit it on something." He hoped that Warrick hadn't gotten a good look at it before he pulled his black ribbed shirt over his head.  
  
Warrick wasn't buying it. "Looks like someone bit you."  
  
Nick tried to keep his expression neutral. "Really?"  
  
Warrick nodded. "Yeah, in fact I'd say that the marks are pretty distinctive, what with the gap between two of them."  
  
Nick knew that Warrick knew that Sara had left those marks on his shoulder, but at the moment he was admitting to nothing, at least until he and Sara had the opportunity to talk about what they were going to tell everyone. "Hmmn. I'll have to take a look at that when I get home."  
  
"Maybe you should just have Sara do it for you." Warrick quipped.  
  
Nick glanced over at Warrick with amusement on his face. "You're still on that?"  
  
"So why was she at your house?" Warrick made it clear he didn't buy Nick's earlier story.  
  
Nick's eyebrows slowly went up and he smiled. "I told you man, we were watching TV."  
  
"So that's why I couldn't hear it in the background when she answered your phone." Warrick smirked.  
  
Nick chuckled. "So maybe she turned it off first."  
  
Warrick raised an eyebrow at his friend. "But she didn't."  
  
"Didn't what?" Sara regarded Nick and Warrick curiously as she walked into the locker room.  
  
Nick tried to restrain his smile. "Warrick doesn't believe that we were watching TV."  
  
Sara tried to play things cool. "So what does he think we were doing?" She opened her locker and pulled her jacket out.  
  
Nick looked at Warrick expectantly. "He didn't say."  
  
Sara glanced at Warrick with a curious expression.  
  
Warrick just shook his head and chuckled. "I know that you know that I know."  
  
Nick and Sara looked at each other with amusement on their faces. Sara closed her locker and put her jacket on. "What exactly am I supposed to know that you know?"  
  
Nick smirked. "Beats me."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Do you think he bought any of that?" Sara snuggled closer to Nick underneath the comforter on her bed.  
  
He chuckled softly. "Not a bit. But he can't prove anything either."  
  
Sara's brow creased as she kissed the bruise on his shoulder that her teeth had made. "You said he noticed this."  
  
He glanced over at her. "Again, he can't prove anything. All he has is circumstantial evidence, and until such a time that we decide we want to make this public, that's all he's going to get." 


	5. Keeping Secrets

"Nick, you've got to stop kissing me in the locker room." Sara was sitting on Nick's lap in his recliner as they watch TV at his house.  
  
He chuckled and kissed her neck. "You didn't seem to mind at the time."  
  
"Well if you want to keep this a secret, that's not the way to do it. I'm pretty sure that Warrick didn't buy your story about my looking for something in your eye." She replied. They had had more than a few close calls at work since they'd starting dating a few weeks before.  
  
"I'm sure he hasn't bought any of our stories, but he can't prove anything." Nick seemed pleased with himself.  
  
"You know, I'm just as competitive as you are, but at some point we're going to have to tell them." Sara observed.  
  
"I thought you wanted to make them figure it out." Nick looked at her curiously.  
  
Sara leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled. "I'm just getting tired of sneaking around to be with you. It's not like we're doing anything wrong."  
  
Nick kissed her neck again. "I think the only one that doesn't suspect anything is Grissom."  
  
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Sara considered for a moment.  
  
"Are you worried about what he's going to think?" Nick pulled back and looked at her for a moment.  
  
She furrowed her brow as she looked at him. "I don't know. I mean I never seem to know what he thinks and it makes me nervous sometimes."  
  
"I know what you mean." Nick began to kiss her neck again.  
  
Sara giggled. "You're not even paying attention to this show."  
  
He mumbled against her neck. "I've seen it before. The dog walker gets the girl at the end and they open a doggie daycare in the park."  
  
"He looks a little like you." Sara observed.  
  
"Nah, I'm much better looking." Nick teased, still planting kisses against her neck.  
  
Sara relaxed against him, his arms encircling her waist. "You are pretty cute."  
  
Nick chuckled. "I think you're pretty sexy." To emphasize his point as he continued to kiss her, he slid his hands up the front of her shirt.  
  
"Mmn. Nick." Sara closed her eyes and reached back and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
Nick kissed along her jaw line as his hands massaged her breasts through the fabric of her bra. "Sara, you feel so good."  
  
Sara turned her head towards Nick and kissed him. They shared long slow deep kisses for quite a while as Sara lost herself in the sensation of Nick's hands on her body.  
  
The TV was all but forgotten as things between them began to heat up. Nick had unfastened Sara's jeans and began to slip his hand inside when someone knocked at the door. They pulled apart for a moment to try and catch their breaths. Another knock sounded at the door and Nick put his hands on Sara's waist to steady her as he tried to extricate himself from behind her. As Nick walked over to answer the door, Sara refastened her pants and smoothed the rest of her clothes down, trying to act natural.  
  
Nick glanced at Sara before he opened the door.  
  
Warrick stood there with a curious expression on his face. "Hey, man. Sorry to bother you on your night off, but you left your cell phone in my rig and Grissom said you weren't answering your home phone." He handed Nick the cell phone.  
  
"Thanks." Nick furrowed his brow. "What did Grissom want?"  
  
"Is Sara here?" Warrick asked, knowing full well that she had the night off too and that her Denali was parked next to Nick's in his driveway.  
  
Nick nodded and opened the door wider to let Warrick in. "We were just watching TV."  
  
Warrick raised a doubtful eyebrow and glanced over at Sara, raising a hand in greeting. "Grissom's been trying to get a hold of you too, Sara."  
  
"I didn't hear my phone ring." She glanced over to where it sat on the coffee table and noticed that the message light was flashing. "Shit."  
  
Warrick tried to restrain a smile at the situation. "Whether you two are going to admit it or not, I'm pretty sure that there is something going on between you."  
  
"So what did Grissom want?" Sara asked knowing that Grissom probably needed one of them to come in to work.  
  
"Yeah, what did he want?" Nick was a little annoyed. He had been looking forward to having the night off with Sara and he was looking forward to where things were going between them before Warrick had knocked on the door.  
  
"Hot case, he wants all of us on it. I know you both have the night off, but the sheriff is chewing his ass out, so Grissom sent me to find you." Warrick concluded.  
  
"What is it?" Nick queried, glancing over at Sara who shot him an apologetic expression.  
  
"Seventeen year old girl found dead of an apparent homicide." Warrick informed them.  
  
Nick and Sara looked confused as to why all of them needed to work the case.  
  
Warrick continued. "Her prom date for the evening was the mayor's oldest son and he's currently missing."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The scene had been ugly. A young vibrant young woman had been brutally beaten and raped before she'd been stabbed to death. Her updoo and prom dress were splattered with her own blood. All preliminary evidence pointed toward the mayor's son as the prime suspect, but the fact that he had disappeared just brought more questions than answers. The team of CSIs spent several hours meticulously combing the scene and as they were preparing to pack the evidence up and transport it back to the lab, Brass called to say that they'd found the body of the mayor's son about a mile and a half away. Any thoughts Nick and Sara had about getting at least part of the evening off disappeared with that new piece of information.  
  
By the time the team returned to the lab the next shift had already begun. Sara stood in front of her locker trying to stifle a yawn as she stowed her gear. She smiled as she felt a pair of hands rest on her shoulders and begin to kneed them. "Hey."  
  
Nick chuckled softly. "You're tense."  
  
She closed her eyes and let Nick work on the knots in her shoulders. "I need sleep."  
  
"You gonna go home?" There was a hopeful tone in Nick's voice that she might come home with him.  
  
"I really need to sleep, Nick." Sara wanted nothing more than to be with him, but her body craved sleep more than it craved him at the moment.  
  
"Who said anything about anything other than sleep?" Nick tried to sound innocent.  
  
Sara chuckled softly and glanced over her shoulder at him and spoke softly. "I do sleep better with you."  
  
Nick leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I sleep better with you too."  
  
As the pair made their way out the parking lot to head back to Nick's neither one of them was aware that Warrick had been standing just around the corner at the end of the bay of lockers and had overheard the entire conversation. 


	6. The Jig Is Up

After Nick and Sara left, Warrick stood there with a smug expression on his face. He rounded the corner and opened his locker, letting out a soft chuckle.  
  
Catherine looked at him curiously as she entered, noting the look on his face. "You seem pretty happy after processing a double."  
  
Warrick chuckled again as he looked at Catherine. "I just overheard something pretty interesting."  
  
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell me or tease me?"  
  
Warrick glanced around to make sure no one else was in the room. "Nick and Sara are sleeping together."  
  
Catherine crossed her arms in front of her body. "And how did you happen to overhear that?"  
  
"They didn't know I was in here." Warrick replied with another chuckle.  
  
Catherine looked a bit perplexed. "Why are they so intent on hiding it? It's not like any of us would have a problem with it."  
  
Warrick just shook his head. "Who knows, but I think we need to quiz them a little bit and see if we can get one of them to slip."  
  
Catherine looked amused. "This could be fun."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sara had indeed been exhausted. She fell asleep just minutes after she and Nick crawled into bed. He watched her for a little while as she slept in his arms. Sara had a reputation for being in control and independent. She never seemed to sleep and subsisted on copious amounts of coffee. But Nick had noticed that she tended to sleep well and deep when they were together. For whatever reason, she felt secure with him and he was glad. Though the way their dating relationship had started had not been planned, he was sure that there was something between them that might be lasting. Nick had to admit to himself that he was falling hard for Sara.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, Sara, you've been spending a lot of time at Nick's." Catherine began as they were looking through the belongings of the mayor's son in one of the layout rooms.  
  
Sara glanced up at Catherine for a moment before looking back at the wallet in front of her. "Uh, yeah."  
  
Catherine tried to keep her tone even and nonchalant. "Anything good on TV?"  
  
Sara methodically pulled things out of the wallet and cataloged them. "Wild World of Birds."  
  
"Birds?" Catherine sounded skeptical.  
  
Sara smirked. "It's pretty fascinating actually. But most everything on the Discovery Channel is."  
  
Catherine raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't get to watch it as much as I liked to. Lindsey is more into the Disney Channel."  
  
Sara glanced up and smiled. "How is she?"  
  
"Typical ten year old." Catherine smiled proudly.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Warrick glanced at Nick as they processed the car that they mayor's son had driven the night of his prom. "Spending a lot of time with Sara after work, aren't you?"  
  
Nick glanced up and chuckled. "What's the big deal? We like to hang out."  
  
"I bet you do." Warrick quipped.  
  
Nick smirked. "What are you getting at, man?"  
  
Warrick continued looking at the backseat for trace evidence. "I think that you and Sara are doing the horizontal mambo."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So I told him that he should try and get on that show 'Trading Spaces'." Sara chuckled.  
  
"Did you convince him?" Catherine queried.  
  
Sara shook her head. "No. He said that he'd worked pretty hard to get his place the way it is."  
  
Catherine watched Sara for a moment as the younger woman seemed to find something interesting in the wallet she was processing. "So, Sara, does Nick wear boxers or briefs."  
  
Sara was concentrating on the unused prom tickets in the wallet and didn't think before she responded. "Boxers." As soon as the word was out of her mouth she knew that Catherine had been setting her up. She closed her eyes and smirked, letting out a low chuckle.  
  
Catherine leaned toward her and smiled. "You two are so busted."  
  
As Sara glanced up a hint of pink tinged her cheeks and she noticed that Catherine looked very pleased.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Nick raised both eyebrows at Warrick. "The horizontal mambo."  
  
Warrick chuckled. "Don't even try and deny it, man. You two have been sneaking around for weeks. What I want to know is why you've been trying to keep it a secret."  
  
Nick didn't say anything for a minute, trying to figure out what he should say. "You don't have any evidence, man."  
  
Warrick chuckled again. "Actually, you may be interested to know that I was in the locker room when you two left after shift yesterday."  
  
Nick tried to restrain an embarrassed grin. He knew the jig was up. "So Sara and I are seeing each other. What's the big deal?"  
  
Warrick's expression was smug.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, Sara, how long has this thing between you and Nick been going on." Catherine couldn't restrain her smile.  
  
Sara swallowed and glanced at Catherine, keeping her voice low. "A few weeks."  
  
Catherine raised a single eyebrow. "Why the big secret?"  
  
Sara pursed her lips together to keep from smiling. "We wanted you guys to figure it out on your own."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"When did this start?" Warrick asked Nick curiously.  
  
Nick tried not to smile. "A few weeks ago."  
  
Warrick chuckled. "So when she answered your phone, I was right on."  
  
Nick couldn't hold back his smile. "Something like that."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sara was pouring herself a cup of coffee in the break room when Nick walked in. She smiled at him conspiratorially. "Our secret is out."  
  
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Warrick got to you too?"  
  
She shook her head. "No. Warrick knows?"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah, who else?"  
  
She smiled. "Catherine. I sort of let it slip." She leaned towards him and whispered. "She knows you wear boxers."  
  
Nick chuckled and took a sip of the cup of coffee he'd poured himself. "Maybe I'll switch."  
  
Sara feigned a horrified expression. "Please tell me you're not considering tighty whiteys."  
  
Nick feigned a hurt expression. "What's wrong with them?"  
  
Sara swatted at him. "There is absolutely nothing sexy about those."  
  
He leaned toward her and whispered. "Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of boxer-briefs."  
  
Sara waggled her eyebrows at him and whispered. "Hmm, I like the sound of that."  
  
He chuckled softly and looked at her with a smoldering expression. "Feel like going shopping after shift? I was kind of thinking we could go to Victoria's Secret and I could buy you something sexy."  
  
She laughed softly. "Sexy, huh?"  
  
Nick grinned as he whispered again. "Something that'll make me want to fuck you silly."  
  
Sara couldn't keep the smile off of her face. 


	7. And the Cat is Out of the Bag

Sara looked down at Nick with an amused expression as she propped herself up on his chest. "You know, you could have saved yourself the money."  
  
He raised a curious eyebrow. "You didn't like it?"  
  
She smirked. "I didn't have it on long enough to know if I liked it."  
  
He grinned. "You looked damned sexy."  
  
She looked smug. "In the future, you could just throw the lingerie on the floor to see how it looks if you plan on pulling it off me at lightning speed."  
  
Nick chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I've been wanting to get you naked since Warrick knocked on the door and interrupted us."  
  
Sara giggled. "Well I suppose it did have it's desired effect."  
  
Nick tried to restrain his grin. "Oh, really?"  
  
She nodded with a smile on her face and angled her lips toward his.  
  
As her lips touched his, Nick slid his hands down and gripped her butt, pulling her more fully on top of him as he opened his mouth to her. He was acutely aware of the softness of her inner thighs against the outside of his and as her breasts pressed against his chest he could feel himself becoming aroused.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"That was cutting it pretty close." Sara commented as she and Nick headed towards the conference room for the briefing on their case.  
  
Nick glanced around and leaned toward her whispering. "Well at least I remembered to set the alarm this time."  
  
She felt her cheeks turning a little pink and she tried to stifle a smile with a smirk. "It only works if you actually get out of bed when it goes off."  
  
He grinned innocently. "I was only trying to say good morning."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "We work the night shift."  
  
"Same thing." He grinned conspiratorially. "Besides, you seemed to be enjoying yourself."  
  
She tried not to smile as they came to the doorway of the conference room. "We can't talk about this right now."  
  
Nick just chuckled as they entered the room where everyone else was assembled.  
  
Grissom glanced up momentarily and turned his attention back to the file in front of him before he began the briefing.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Shift felt excruciating long, and perhaps that's because it was. The entire night shift crew ended up pulling a double shift trying to find something in the evidence that they had collected that would give them some clue as to who had brutally murdered the mayor's son and his prom date. Sheriff Atwater had made it clear that no other case was going to be handled by the nightshift crew until some sort of headway was made on this case. All other cases were being referred to Ecklie and his dayshift crew.  
  
Sara was exhausted. She had been trying to formulate scenarios that the evidence would support, but had come to a dead end. Nick was trying to train Greg to help out with some of the trace evidence. Warrick had processed soil found on one of the victim's shoes, but there was nothing notable or remarkable about it. Catherine and Grissom had interviewed numerous acquaintances of both victims to see if they could come up with a viable suspect. Brass took the delicate task of interviewing the mayor and his wife.  
  
The group reassembled in the conference room at the end of their second shift. They each offered up what they had learned and they realized that at least for the time being they had cumulatively come to a dead end.  
  
Sara let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. She craved sleep and at that moment she craved the comfort and security of Nick's arms while she slept. The group began to gather their things to leave the conference room when two things happened.  
  
Nick rested his hands on Sara's shoulders and gave her an encouraging smile. That in and of itself wasn't that unusual, but what happened next raised a few eyebrows around the room. Sara slid her arms around his waist and leaned up and kissed him briefly.  
  
Warrick and Catherine stood there trying to keep a straight face as they watch the faces of Grissom and Greg, who for their part stood there wide eyed.  
  
As Sara pulled away she gave Nick a tired smile. "Baby, I'm so tired, I just want you to take me home so we can sleep."  
  
Without even looking at the others, Nick just grinned at her and they headed out of the conference room and down the hallway towards the locker room to gather their things.  
  
Grissom glanced at Catherine who had a knowing smirk on her face, realizing that she knew that something was going on. Greg looked completely shocked. He had never suspected that something was going on between Nick and Sara because he'd been so focused on flirting with Sara himself. As for Warrick, he finally let out a chuckle and glanced at Catherine. "I don't even think they know what they just did."  
  
Catherine chortled and nodded in agreement.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It wasn't until they were snuggled together under the comforter on Nick's bed and she was just on the verge of sleep that Sara jolted herself awake. She glanced over at Nick and began to shake him. "Nick. Nick, wake up."  
  
His eyes fluttered open and he looked at her curiously. "What is it?"  
  
She had a hint of panic on her face. "They know."  
  
"Who knows what?" Nick looked a little confused as he tried to get his bearings.  
  
"Everyone. They know." Sara sounded insistent.  
  
"Knows what, babe?" Nick needed a little clarification for his sleep fogged mind.  
  
"About us." Sara had a hint of a whine in her voice. "I just realized what I did."  
  
Nick let out a chuckle and smiled as he hugged her. "Yeah, I think you kissing me in the conference room in front of all of them was a dead giveaway."  
  
~*~ THE END ~*~ 


End file.
